.LECTURE NOTES FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATION

LECTURE NOTES FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATION
sense, select, and perceive | light and color
eye, retina, and the brain
visual cues: color, form, depth, and movement
visual theories | visual persuasion
media stereotypes
visual analysis perspectives
typography | graphic design
informational graphics | cartoons
photography | motion pictures
television and video | computers
world wide web
the more you know; the more you see

Chapter 1: To Sense. To Select. To Perceive.

The Visual Process

Aldous Huxley
Brave New World
Retinal Disease
The Art of Seeing
Sensing, Selecting, and Perceiving
"The more you know; the more you see."
How is that True in Your Life?
Abstract Analysis

How Can You Find a Picture's Meaning?
Graphic Clues
Symbolic Clues
Look for the Literal and Symbolic Messages
There is No Meaning Without Words
Other Examples

Moving from Sensing to Perceiving
Visual Communication's Circle Dance

The More You Know; The More You Sense, Select, Perceive, Remember, Learn, And Know
Possible Visual Materials:

Child's drawing, confusing photograph, abstract art, Nick Park's Creature Comforts

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Chapter 2: Light and Color

What is Light?

The Nature of Light
Where Does Light Come From?

Empedocles (Light Comes from the Eyes)
Alhazen (Light Comes from Light Sources)
What is the Speed of Light?

Albert Michelson's Experiment
Is Light Particles or Waves?

Sir Isaac Newton (Particles called Corpuscles)
Thomas Young (Light Acts as Water Waves)
Max Planck (Light Photons Work Both Ways)
Albert Einstein (Proved Planck's Theory)
Electromagnetic Energy and Other Forms

William Herschel (Each Light has a Unique Temperature)
James Clerk Maxwell (Combined Electricity and Magnetism for the Word)
Heinrich Hertz (Radio Broadcast Waves)
Albert Einstein (Ultraviolet Radiation)
What is Color?

Physical Aspects of Color
Leonardo da Vinci (Six Primary Colors)
Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz
Tri-Color Theory of Color
Sociological Uses of Color

Red (Power and Curative Agent)
Purple (Dignity, Sadness, and Tinky Winky's Favorite Color)
Blue (Protection since the Gods Live in the Sky)
Green (Fertility or Envy)
Yellow (Activity and a Cure for Jaundice)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides showing technical and artistic aspects of light, paintings of Edward Hopper and Claude Lazar, scenes from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner

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Chapter 3: The Eye, the Retina, and the Brain

Historic Eyes

At Least 50 Million Years Old
Eyes Evolved for Walking and Safe Eating
Windows to the Soul
Parts of the Eye

Sclera ("White of the Eye") and Cornea (Clear Front)
Iris (Color)
Pupil (Where Light Enters)
Aqueous Humor (Gel in Front)
Lens (Focuses the Image)
Vitreous Humor (Gel that Gives Shape to the Eyeball)
The Retina

Foveal (Sharp Focus and Color) and Peripheral Regions (Movement and Dark Vision)
Rods (Movement and Dark Vision) and Cones (Sharp Focus and Color)
Optic Nerve ("Blind Spot")
Optic Chiasma (Newton's Discovery - Redundant Vision)
The Brain

Thalamus (Sense information is Filtered Except from the Eyes)
Visual Cortex (Back of the Brain-Where Images are Processed)
Hippocampus (Where Long-Term Visual Messages are Stored)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides showing the technical and artistic aspects of the eye, clip from Alanis Morissette music video, scene from Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein

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Chapter 4: Color, Form, Depth, and Movement

What the Brain Sees

Nobel Prize Experiment
David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel
Brain Cells Combine to Show Color, Form, Depth, and Movement
Color

Objective Color (Scientific)
Wavelengths
Temperature
Comparative Color (Definitional)
Sky Blue
Fire Engine Red
Subjective Color (Emotional)
Symbolic and Emotional Responses
Form

Dots
Pointillists and Halftones
Lines
A Series of Dots Gives Lines Power
Shapes
Parallelograms (Rectangles)
Circles
Triangles
Polygons (All Other Shapes)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides showing the artistic aspects of color and form, Nick Parks' Wrong Trousers (color), and Bill Plympton's Your Face (form).

Depth (A Matter of Foreground and Background)

Space (Frames Matter)
Size (Small Objects in Front)
Color (Red in the Front; Blue in the Back)
Lighting (Backlighting for TV Studios and Photography)
Textural Gradients (Sand Dune Effect)
Interposition (Something in Front of Something Else)
Time (The Higher the Interest, the More it Will Be in Front)
Perspective (The Most Complex)
Illusionary (Eyes Can Be Fooled)
Linear (Painters Had to Learn the Technique)
Geometrical (Placement of Elements is Important)
Ancient, Native, and Children's' Artwork
Conceptual (Relies on Symbolic Definitions)
Multi-frame (Many Views at Once)
Pablo Picasso
Social Dominance (Who is in Front?)
Movement

Real (Not a part of this Class)
Apparent (Motion Pictures Give Illusion of Movement)
Graphic (Directing Eyes Through a Design)
Implied (Using Designs and Colors for Internal Vibrations)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides showing the artistic aspects of depth and movement, scene from Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (deep focus--depth), opening sequence of "NYPD Blue," and scene from Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (movement)

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Chapter 5: Theories of Visual Communication

Sensual Theories

Gestalt ("The Whole is Different From the Sum of Its Parts")
Max Wertheimer (While Riding on a Train)
Gestalt Psychology (Holistic Way of Treating Patients)
Visual Organization (How Does the Eye Notice Elements?)
Camouflage (Edgar Rubin-What the Eye Doesn't Notice)
Constructivism (Short-Term Memory Builds Images)
Julian Hochberg (Columbia University)
Eye Tracking (Machines that Measure Eye Movement Through a Design)
Ecological
J. J. Gibson (Importance of Ambient Optical Arrays and Environmental Testing)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides demonstrating each sensual theory above. Excerpt from Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio, director, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, and music by Philip Glass (imagine yourself as a brain cell).

Perceptual Theories

Semiotics (The Study of Signs)
Ferdinand de Saussure (Swiss Linguist)
Charles Peirce (American Philosopher)
iconic signs (Direct One-to-One Relationship--Photographs))
indexical signs (An Assumed Connection--Smoke From an Exhaust)
symbolic signs (Meaning Must Be Learned--Words)
Codes (Collections of Complex Rules and Elements)
Metonymy (Viewer Makes Assumptions--Advertising Images)
Analogy (Viewer Makes Comparisons)
Displaced (Viewer Is Not Shown the Truth--Phallic Symbols)
Condensed (Viewer Creates New Messages--Music Videos)
Cognitive (Your Mind at Work)
Memory (The Past Affects the Present)
Projection (Giving Objects Added meaning--Tarot Cards)
Expectation (Assumptions About What Must Be Present)
Selectivity (Active Looking)
Habituation (Normal Appearances Can Dull Vision)
Salience (Relative Importance to the Viewer)
Dissonance (Distractions--Noise, Personal Problems, Temperature)
Culture (What and How We Learn to Get By)
Words (Explanations Are Always Needed)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides demonstrating each perceptual theory discussed above. Excerpts from David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me and Lost Highway, "Wayne and Garth" on "hello" (confusing) music videos, "Losing My Religion," REM music video directed by Tarsas (the myth of Ithacus), and a "Saturday Night Live" clip demonstrating the importance of words.

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Chapter 6: Visual Persuasion

Mixing Advertising, Public Relations, and Journalism

Benetton Clothing Company Campaign
Shock Advertising (Created to cause Public Outcry)
Journalism Condemnation
Free Public Relations
Free Advertising
Jump in Sweater Sales
Persuasion

Aristotle (How to Persuade Someone)
Ethos (Credible Source)
Logos (Logical Argument)
Pathos (Emotional Appeal Including Images)
Propaganda

"Propagating the Faith" (From a Catholic Church Directive)
Negative Connotation (From Dictatorships and One-Sided Information)
Advertising

Buying Space or Time
Commercial
Non-commercial
Advertising Growth Since the industrial Revolution
Movie/TV/Web Placements
Advertorials (Fake Stories in Print)
Infomercials (Fake Shows on Television)
Public Relations

Free Space or Time
WWI and Rise ("Four-Minute Men")
Advertising and PR Firms Combine
Lobbyists and Spin Doctors
Journalism and PR
Most Stories (75 Percent) Are from PR Sources
Journalism

Reporting the News
Corporate Influences
Sixty-eight Percent of a Newspaper is Advertisements
Back to David Kirby

Life Mixes Advertising and Journalism
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides demonstrating various points above. Excerpt from Stop the Church (showing propaganda).

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Chapter 7: Pictorial Stereotypes

Stereotyping in the Media

Jerry Lewis Telethon (Helpful or Harmful?)
What is Stereotyping?
Dominant Culture in Control of Media Messages
Media Coverage and Prejudicial Thinking
Common Stereotypes

Irish Americans (Drunk and Disorderly)
Jewish Americans (Greedy and Powerful)
African Americans (Criminals, Sex-Crazed, and Musical)
Latino Americans (Illegal Immigrants and Gangsters)
Asian Americans (Smart, Greedy, and Bad Drivers)
Women (Place is in the Home and Sexual Objects)
Gays and Lesbians (Outlandish, Child Predators, and AIDS Carriers)
Possible Visual Materials:

Pink Floyd's "On the Turning Away," concert film, "NYPD Blue" excerpt, "Jerry Lewis Telethon" clip, repeat Young Frankenstein clip opening, "Chess for Girls" from "Saturday Night Live," Volkswagen commercial, "Da, da, da," spoken introduction to slide show with music by Enya, "Boadicea" and Joan Osborne, "One of Us."

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Introduction To Chapter 8: Six Perspectives for Analysis

Personal

Initial, Gut Reaction
Historical

The Images' Place in Time
Technical

What Makes the Image Possible?
Ethical

What is the Moral Responsibility of Those Who Create Images?
Categorical Imperative
A Rule is Always Followed (News Justification)
Utilitarianism
Greater Good is Served to Educate the Public
Hedonism
Live for the Moment (A Personal Motivation for Actions)
Golden Mean
A Compromise Between Two Extreme Points (Aristotle)
Golden Rule
First Do No Harm (Do Not Add Grief to Others)
Veil of Ignorance
Empathy for Others (Greatest Hope for Overcoming Stereotypes)
Cultural

Societal Impact (What Messages are Produced?)
Critical

Reasoned Opinion (From Subjective, Quick, and Emotion Responses the Viewer Moves to Objective, Long-Term, and Rational Analyses)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides demonstrating each perspective above.

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Chapter 8: Typography

Johannes Gutenberg

Born in Mainz (Learned Metallurgy Early)
Fled to France because of Guild Wars
Borrowed Heavily (Experiments were Expensive)
Hot-Tempered Personality (Sued because of his Anger)
"Secret Art" (Afraid to Tell of his Idea)
Lost his Press in Court Case with Johann Fust
A Broken Man (Poor and Frustrated)
Buried in Mainz (Not Sure Where)
Gutenberg Bible

50 Pounds
Two Volumes
11 x 16 Inches
180 on Paper; 30 on Vellum (Completed in 1456)
47 Exist Today
Johann Fust's Printing Mark is in the Book
Fust Died from the Plague while Selling Bibles in France
Gutenberg's Secret Art

Acceptable Type Mold (Gutenberg Invention)
Removable Type (Already Well-Known)
Suitable Alloy (Gutenberg Invention)
Suitable Ink (Already Well-Known)
Suitable Paper (Already Well-Known)
Book-Making (Already Well-Known)
Converted Grape Press (Gutenberg Invention)
All Combined to Create a Commercial Press
Gutenberg's Legacy

In 50 Years, 1,120 Print Shops in 17 Countries
Established a Need for Literacy
Spread Humanism, Democracy, and the Renaissance
Began the Dominance of the Word Over the Picture
Personal Perspective

"Typography is to writing what a soundtrack is to a motion picture"
---Jonathan Hoefler

But Typography Decisions Are Seldom Noticed
Historical Perspective

History of Writing
Cave Paintings
Sumerians (Where Iran and Iraq are Located)
Cuneiform (Highly Stylized Letting System)
Egyptians
Hieroglyphics (Aesthetically Beautiful Letterforms)
Chinese Letters (Originally Over 50,00 individual Forms)
Phoenicians (Concept of the Alphabet--Symbols Stand for Sounds)
Greek Symmetry (Natural Forms for Letters)
Romans (Completed Western Alphabet)
Hot Type (Hot Metal)
Richard Hoe's Press
Cold Type (Photo or Computer Technology)
Photo, Digital Typesetting, and Desktop Publishing
Technical Perspective

Typeface Families (Each has a Mood and Purpose)
Blackletter (Religious Mood, Seldom Used)
Roman (Most Common and Readable)
Script (Invitations and Diplomas)
Miscellaneous (Advertising Roots)
Square Serif (inspired from Egyptian Conquest)
Sans Serif (Art Deco and Computer Uses)
Typeface Attributes
Size
Color (Type and Background)
Font (Bold, Italic, and so on)
Text Block Size (Column Width)
Justification (Left, Right, Centered, and Justified)
White Space (Kerning, Leading, Alleys)
Ethical Perspective

Readable versus "Garbage Fonts" (Conflict Between Literal and Symbolic Messages Conveyed--Is It More Important to Read the Words or to Derive Emotions from the Pictures?)
Appropriation and Theft (Easy Because of Computer Technology)
Cultural Perspective

Pre-Gutenberg Era (Before 1455)
Words as Pictures (Both Were One)
Gutenberg Era (1455 - 1800)
Printing and Word Dominance
Industrial Era (1800 - 1900)
"Dark Ages" (Because of Advertising Uses)
Artistic Era (1900 - Present) (Showed Designers Displays Could Be Pleasing)
Art Movements (Discussed Fully in Graphic Design Chapter)
Digital Era (1984 - Present)
Desktop and Online Publishing
Critical Perspective

The best typographical designs match the mood of the aesthetics with the content of the piece. Designers must always consider the audience.
Future Directions

Web Zines and Personal Typefaces
Possible Visual Materials:

Slide examples, excerpt from James Burke's television program concerning Gutenberg, Van Halen's music video, "Right Now"

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Chapter 9: Graphic Design

Saul Bass

Born, 1921, NYC
Bauhaus Influenced (Read Books on the Train to Work)
Warner Bros. (Champion--First Poster that got him Noticed)
Howard Hughes and RKO (But Didn't Like Control over his Work)
Formed his Own Agency in 1952 with his Wife
Bass/Yaeger Associations in Brentwood, California
Died, 1996
Saul Bass's Work

Posters and Titles
Movie Posters
Carmen Jones to Casino
Film Work
Psycho
Why Man Creates (Won Academy Award)
Logos
Quaker Oats, Minolta, GSA, United Airlines, AT&T
Personal Perspective

"Design is thinking made visual."
---Saul Bass

Multivariate Decisions are Often Overlooked by a Viewer
Historical Perspective

Pre-Gutenberg (Before 1455)
Cave Paintings
Books of Dead
Greek Symmetry
Gutenberg Era (1455 - 1800)
Printing Remained the Same
Industrial Era (1800 - 1900)
Steam Presses (Richard Hoe Press, 1847)
Lithography (Aloys Senefelder, 1800)
Photography (Joseph NiŽpce, 1827)
Advertising Uses
Artistic Era (1900 - Present)
Art Movements
Digital Era (1984 - Present)
Desktop (Personal Computers and Laser Printers, 1984)
Online (World Wide Web, 1994)
Technical Perspective

Contrast
Color
Size
Symbolism
Time
Sound
Balance
Symmetrical
Asymmetrical
Rhythm
Arrangement of Elements in a Display
Number of Elements in a Display
Unity
Related Content
Stylistic Consistency
Ethical Perspective

Utilitarianism (Educating) or Hedonism (Personal Messages)
Pictorial Stereotypes
Harmful Products
Appropriation of Designs
Cultural Perspective

Free Form Styles
Art Nouveau (Inspired from Japanese Art)
Henri Toulous-Lautrec, Will Bradley, Max Parrish
Dada (Anger Over World War I--Break All the Rules)
Marcel Duchamp, Sergei Eisenstein, George Herriman
Art Deco (Commercial Version of Dada)
Erte, Chrysler Building, Miami Beach District
Pop Art (Everyday Objects are Special)
Andy Warhol, Robert Frank, Peter Max
Post Modern
Punk (Modern Dada)
New Wave (Commercial Version of Punk)
Hip Hop (Clothing, Music, Display Art)
Grid Approaches
De Stijl (Harmony After World War I)
Piet Mondrian, Stefan Lorant, Modular Design
Bauhaus (Designs, Furniture, and Skyscrapers)
Paul Klee, Gyorgy Kepes, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Critical Perspective

A "Good" Design is a Cultural Artifact--the Audience Matters
Future Directions

Virtual Reality (Get Inside a Design)
Teleputers (Telephone, Television, and Computer Combination)
Possible Visual Materials:

Slide examples, selected movie titles by Saul Bass, and a scene from "Mad About You".

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Chapter 10: Informational Graphics

USA Today Weather Map

Allen Neuharth
Gannett Newspaper Chain
Eye-catching, Easy to Read, National, and Much Copied
Weather Maps

Edmond Halley (Known More for his Comet)
Newspaper Fad
NASA Satellites
TV Weather Segments
The Weather Channel (Began Same Year as USA Today)
George Rorick and the USA Today Weather Map, 1982
Personal Perspective

"God is in the details."
---Mies van der Rohe

Converts Data into Pictures. Shows Information that is Hard to Grasp Otherwise.
Historical Perspective

Sumerian Maps
Greek Maps
Chinese Maps
Three Infographic Pioneers
William Playfair (Scotland--Economic Charts)
Dr. John Snow (England--Discovered a Cause for Cholera Outbreak)
Charles Minard (France--Visually Described Napoleon's Downfall)
Infographics In Newspapers
Infographics Used for War Explanations
Computers Make Production Much Easier
Technical Perspective

Statistical Infographics (Convert Numbers to Pictures)
Charts or Graphs
Line, Relational, Pie, and Pictographs
Data Maps
Snow, Minard, and Weather Maps
Non-statistical infographics (Relies on Pleasing Aesthetic Values)
Fact Boxes (From Little Space During World War II)
Tables
Non-Data Maps
Locator
Explanatory
Diagrams (Most Complex)
Miscellaneous
Courtroom Drawings
TV Schedules
Icons and Logos
Time Lines
Editorial Illustrations
Ethical Perspective

Inaccurate Charts, Inappropriate Symbolism, and Chartjunk
Cultural Perspective

Be Clear about the Cultural Context of Signs
Critical Perspective

Computers Make Production Almost Too Easy
Infographics Should Always Be Filled with Content
Future Directions

More, not Fewer Informational Graphics in All Media
Possible Visual Materials:

Slide examples, videotape from a WGN weather segment, diagram from C/Net showing the Nicole Simpson/Ron Goldman murders.

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Chapter 11: Cartoons

"The Simpsons"

Matt Groening (From Springfield, Oregon)
Son of Homer, a Filmmaker
"Life in Hell" (Original Idea for TV Show)
Tracey Ullman Show (First Appearance of Simpson Characters)
James L. Brooks and Sam Simon Producers
Marketing Genius (More Money Made in Toys and Shirts)
First Aired January, 1990

Show Has Working Class Television Roots
Social Satire (Makes Fun of Society's Conventions)
"Itchy and Scratchy" (Toon Within the Toon--Ultra Violent)
Syndicated, 1994
Made in Korea
Longest Running Cartoon in Television History
Personal Perspective

"From a purely semiotic point of view, comic strips constitute one of the most complex and sophisticated areas of drawn communication."
---Clive Ashwin

Not Considered Serious
One of the Oldest Forms of Communication
One of the Most Complicated Art Forms
Historical Perspective

Single-Framed Cartoons
Caricatures (Anti-Portraits in England)
Cave Drawings (Exaggerations)
Egyptian Artwork (King Tut and Cleopatra Despised)
Pompeii Ruins (Drawn on Buildings)
Leonardo da Vinci (Notebook Drawings)
The Carracci Family (Agostino, Annibale, and Ludovico Carracci)
Al Hirschfeld (The New Yorker)
Editorial Cartoons
William Hogarth (England, Always Controversial, Died Penniless)
Benjamin Franklin (American, Revolutionary Cartoon)
James Gillray ("Little Boney" Cartoon of Napoleon)
Thomas Nast (American, Santa Claus and "Boss" Tweed)
Bill Mauldin ("Willie and Joe" and Civil Rights Cartoons)
Herbert Block (Nixon's Five-O'clock Shadow)
Paul Conrad (Inspired by Bauhaus Movement)
Humorous Cartoons
Sigmund Freud, "Wit and Its Relationship to the Unconscious"
New Yorker Magazine (Premiere Place to Find Cartoons)
Charles Addams ("The Addams Family")
Gary Larson ("The Far Side")
Multi-Framed Cartoons
Egyptian Continuous Paintings
Greek Vases that Turn
Japanese Continuity Paintings
Bayeux Tapestry (Mural Tells Story of the Battle of Hastings, 1066)
Flip Books (Animation Beginnings)
John Newberry (Children's Books)
Comic Strips
Wilhelm Busch (German Master)
Richard Outcault (First American Strip, 1895)
"Yellow Kid of Hogan's Alley"
Hearst and Pulitzer Fought over Outcault ("Yellow Journalism")
George Herriman, Krazy Kat (Dada-Inspired Violent Cartoons)
Buck Rogers (Action-Adventure)
Peanuts (Charles Schultz, Enormously Popular)
Robert Crumb (Strange and Disturbing)
Doonesbury (Garry Trudeau--Controversial)
Comic Books
Max Gaines (Cheap Little Books)
Superman (Two High School Students)
MAD Magazine (William Gaines)
Spiegelman's MAUS
Japanese Manga (Popular With Adults)
Animated Films
George Melies (Magician and Master of the "Jump Cut")
A Journey to the Moon
Walt Disney (Anti-Dada Family Values)
Snow White (Traditional techniques)
A Bug's Life (All-Computer Techniques)
Looney Tunes (Dada-Inspired Zaniness)
Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Friz Freleng of Warner Bros.
Hanna and Barbera
"The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons"
Japanese Anime (Popular World-Wide)
Technical Perspective

Frames (Word Placement)
Settings (Simple or Complex)
Characters (Crude or Sophisticated Drawings)
Motion Lines
Agitrons (Wavering)
Briffits (Puffs of Smoke)
Dites (Diagonal)
Hites (Horizontal)
Plewds (Sweat Beads)
Vites (Vertical)
Waftaroms (Smells)
Typography (Readers Become Actors)
Balloons (bubbles, icicles, perforated lines, spiked outlines, tiny words, trailing tails, unbroken lines, zigzagged lines)
Types of Animation
Cel (Looney Tunes and Walt Disney)
Dimensional (Willis H. O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, George Pal, Henry Selick, Nick Park, and Will Vinton)
Paper (Terry Gilliam and South Park)
Computer (Dennis Muren, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Cool World, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Antz, Tin Toy, Toy Story, The Matrix)
Ethical Perspective

Marketing to Children
"Yellow Kid" fans to A Bug's Life Backpacks
Stereotypes Supported
Racism during WWII
Political Messages
"Li'l Abner," "Pogo," and "Doonesbury"
Inappropriate Themes
Sex and Violence (Conflict over Compromise)
Cultural Perspective

Our First Introduction to Reading
Symbols Change with the Times and Culture
Critical Perspective

A Sophisticated Art Form Worthy of Serious Study
Future Directions

Cartoonists as Rock Stars; More Collectibles
A Wide Range of Offerings
Fox ("The Simpsons" "King of the Hill" "The PJs" "Family Guy" "Futurama")
UPN ("Dilbert" "Home Movies")
WB ("Baby Blues")
MTV ("Beavis and Butt-head" "Daria" "Celebrity Death Match")
Comedy Central ("South Park" "Dr. Katz")
Cartoon Channel (All Day All the Time)
Motion Picture Productions
Continued Concerns Over Harm to Society
Possible Visual Materials:

Slide examples, clip from "Futurama," a "Ren and Stimpy" cartoon, Tin Toy, Bambi vs. Godzilla, "Believe in Me," music video clip from Smashing Pumpkins, racist cartoon, "All This and Rabbit Stew," Tex Avery, 1942, various cartoons on video.

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Chapter 12: Photography

The Migrant Mother

Photographer (Dorothea Lange)
Columbia University
San Francisco Portraits
Paul Taylor--Husband (Concerned with Homeless)
Joined the FSA (Farm Security Administration)
Life Magazine Photographer
Complained About Being Labeled A One Shot Wonder
Subject (Florence Thompson)
32-years old
Five Children
Nipomo Camp, 1936
Complained about Privacy and Payment Issues
Colon Cancer
Public Support When News was Reported
A Moving Portrait

Close-up Portrait with Few Distractions
Is she sad or wishing the photographer would leave?
Personal Perspective

"I would willingly exchange every single painting of Christ for one snapshot."
---George Bernard Shaw
Our First Visual Imaging Machine
Frozen Memories of Time, Space, and Relationships
Reminds of Watching versus Participating
Historical Perspective

Heliography (Joseph Niepce, 1827, Eight-Hour Exposure)
Daguerreotype (Louis Daguerre, 1839, One-of-a-Kind, Middle-Class Popularity)
Calotype (Henry Talbot, 1839, "Negative" and "Positive" Terms)
Wet-Collodion (Frederick Archer, 1851, Civil War and Western Images)
Color Materials (James Maxwell, 1861, Louis Ducos du Hauron, 1869, Lumiere Brothers, 1903, Kodak Laboratories)
Gelatin-Bromide Dry Plate (Richard Maddox, 1871, Made Amateur Photography and Motion Pictures)
George Eastman (Kodak camera, 1888)
Holography (Logos and National Geographic cover)
Instant (Edwin Land, 1948, Polaroid)
Digital (Mavica camera from Sony, 1984)
Technical Perspective

Lens Type (Wide, Normal, and Telephoto)
Lens Opening (Small or Large)
Shutter Speed (fast or Slow)
Film Type (Color, Black & White, Fast or Slow)
Camera Type (Throw-Away, Instamatic, Instant, Rangefinder, Single-Lens Reflex, Twin-Lens Reflex, View, Press, Digital)
Lighting (Available and Artificial)
Image Quality (Exposure and Contrast)
Ethical Perspective (Five Major Journalism Concerns)

Victims of Violence
Right to Privacy
Manipulation
Stereotypes
Persuasion (Corporate Control Over Images)
Cultural Perspective

Portraits
Julia Margaret Cameron, Richard Avedon
Paintings
Oscar Rejlander, Henry Robinson
Landscapes
Timothy O'Sullivan, Ansel Adams
Artists
Alfred Stieglitz
Documentaries
Jacob Riis Lewis Hine Mary Ellen Mark
Critical Perspective

Photography did not cause the death of painting
Tells stories sometimes better than words alone
Pictures entertain, educate, disturb, and persuade
Future Directions

Digital Camcorders (Still or Moving Options)
There Will Always Be the Need for the Still Moment
Possible Visual Materials:

Slide examples from the above.

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Chapter 13: Motion Pictures

Citizen Kane

Shown April, 1941
Rated the Best Film Ever by Critics
Cast and Crew
Joseph Cotten
Agnes Moorehead
Herman Mankiewicz, screenplay
Robert Wise, editor
Vernon Walker, special effects
Bernard Hermann, music
Gregg Toland, cinematography
Financial Disaster Because Link with William Hearst
Orson Welles

Wisconsin Born
"Boy Genius"
First American with the Abbey Players of Ireland
Mercury Theatre, "War of the Worlds" and Martian Panic
Hired by RKO
Given Complete Independence
Labeled a Trouble-Maker
Wine Commercials and the "Tonight Show"
Innovations

Images and Words Combine
Deep Focus
Ceilings in the Shot
Optical Effects
Sound Effects (from his radio days)
Analysis of Citizen Kane

Such Independence is Rarely Given
Obvious Link with Hearst
A Brilliant Work of Art is a Composite of Many Elements
Personal Perspective

"A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet."
---Orson Welles

Movies Capture our Imagination
Many Terms Describe the Medium (Movies, Film, Cinema)
Movies Tell Human Stories we Respond To
Theaters are Magical Places
Fun to Watch with Other People (success of Stars Wars: Episode I)
Historical Perspective

Side-Show Amusement
Gelatin-Bromide Dry Plate Photo Process
Thomas Edison
Individual Works for Fiction Dramas
Auguste and Louis Lumiere
Audience for Documentaries
Action-Adventures
Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery
D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation
First Feature-Length Film, 1915
Tremendous Cost
Ku Klux Klan was Reborn
Protests Throughout the US for Controversial Content
Formed United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford
Silent Era
Motion Pictures Became a Business
Directors Learned the Craft
Hal Sennett Max Roach, Cecil B. DeMille, Sergei Eisenstein, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton
Star System Developed with Tremendous Profits
Scandals (Fairbanks and Pickford, "Fatty" Arbuckle)
Academy Awards Established for Positive Publicity
Sound Innovations
Vitaphone (Disk), Edison's invention
Warner Bros.
The Jazz Singer, 1927
Problems with Synchronization
CD-ROM Sound (The Last Action Hero, 1993)
Phonofilm (Film)
20th Century Fox
Made Widescreen Films Possible
Color Innovations
Hand-Tinted Color (The Great Train Robbery)
Cartoon Color (Disney's Flowers and Trees)
Technicolor (None But the Brave)
Public Acceptance of Color (The Wizard of Oz)
Widescreen innovations
Cinerama, 1952 (Not Widely Accepted)
CinemaScope (Later, Called Panavision), 1953 (The Robe and How the West Was Won)
Imax and Omnimax (Tremendously Expensive, yet Popular)
Other Innovations
3D and "B" Movies for Drive-In Movies
Fall of Single Theaters; Rise in Multiplexes
Rise in Television Production
Technical Perspective

Visual Considerations
The Shot (Static or Dynamic, Objective or Subjective)
Film Stock Choices (Color or Black and White)
Text (Credits, Headings, and Translations)
Special Effects (Backscreen and Digital)
Audio Considerations
Speech (Narration and ADR)
Music (Sets the Mood)
Noise (Wild Sound, Foley, and the Lout behind You)
Ethical Perspective

Stereotypes
African Americans, Native Americans, and Women, Among Others
Sex and Violence
More Explicit than Mainstream Television
Many Movies Produced for Overseas Market
Cultural Perspective

Myths and Symbols of a Culture are Employed by Directors
Comedy (City Lights and Something About Mary)
Crime (Basic Instinct and LA Confidential)
Epic (Malcolm X and Elizabeth)
Horror (Frankenstein and Bride of Chucky)
Musical (The Sound of Music and Blues Brothers 2000)
Romance (Casablanca and You've Got Mail)
Science Fiction (2001 and Lost in Space)
Social Impact (The Grapes of Wrath and Smoke Signals)
Thriller (Jurassic Park and Psycho)
War (Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line)
Western (Stagecoach and Unforgiven)
Critical Perspective

Motion Pictures Adapt to Competition with Innovations
As a Business, Bottom Line is Stressed
Few Mainstream Movies Break New Ground
Future Directions

Continued Rise in Independent Movies
Better Food, Seats, and Other Inducements
Movies on Large, High Quality Home Sets
Possible Visual Materials:

Excerpts from various motion pictures (The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith, 1915 (silent era); The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming, 1939 (color); Citizen Kane, Orson Welles, 1941 (words and image combination); Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray, 1955 (close-ups); Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 (subjective camera); In Cold Blood, Richard Brooks, 1967 (terror of black and white); Woodstock, Michael Wadleigh, 1970 (montage); The Passenger, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975 (slow rhythmic pace); Annie Hall, Woody Allen, 1977 (documentary style); Blue Velvet, David Lynch (symbolic images); Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese, 1991 (slow zoom-in); Boyz N the Hood, John Singleton, 1991 (family values); Freejack, Geoff Murphy, 1992 (terrible art direction); Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, 1982 (beautiful art direction).

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Chapter 14: Television and Video

Rodney King

Troubled Family, Alcoholic Father
Newly Released Convict
Difficult Finding Work
High Speed Chase
Beaten and Arrested
George Holliday

Oil Executive's Son
Grew Up in Argentina
Plumbing Company Manager
Heard Commotion Outside Apartment
New Video Camera, a Sony HandyCam
Video and Its Consequences

Sold to KTLA; Distributed Through CNN
An Example of Reality-Based TV ("Cops" and "Funniest Home Videos")
An Instant Public Uproar (Everyone Knew What they Saw)
April, 1992 Riots (After Police Were Acquitted in Criminal Trial)
Analysis of the Rodney King Video

Shocking Content
Reminds Many Civil Rights Pictures from the 1950s
Dramatic, Subjective Camera Work
Hedonism Wins as All involved Want Money
Stereotypes Supported (Police, Criminals, Lawyers)
Shows the Power of Television When the Public is Linked
Personal Perspective

"Our lives have been irrevocably transformed in
ways that make pre-TV America seem like the dark ages."
---Meg Greenfield

Easy to Criticize (Chewing Gum for the Eyes)
Always the Promise of a Better Program
Part of our Culture and Society--Pervasive Medium
But How will it Change with the World Wide Web?
Historical Perspective

Allen Dumont and the Cathode Ray (His Network Failed)
Phil (Philo) Farnsworth (High School Student with Working invention)
NBC, 1926 (First Broadcast Network)
RCA, Felix the Cat (Cartoon Character Transmitted During First US Test)
David Sarnoff (RCA, Invented the term, "Television")
1940s
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Regulation to prevent Channel Overlapping
WWII Freeze (Due to Parts and Labor Needed for the War Effort)
Networks Begun (After World War II the Freeze was Lifted)
1950s
"Golden Age" of Television with Classic Programs (Form Established)
Dominance with Public Over Other Media
Game Show Scandals (Serious Public Relations Debacle)
Blacklisting (As with Motion Pictures, Joseph McCarthy Communist Hunt)
1960s
Cable (Initially to Bring in Pictures for Remote Locations)
Video (Discussed Below)
Violence Shows Condemned ("The Untouchables")
Inane Shows Criticized ("The Beverly Hillbillies")
Satellite Technology Offers Live Broadcasts
1970s
FCC Becomes More Politically Aggressive (Not Just Regulating Technical Items)
Spin-Offs Become Popular
TV Criticism Increases
1980s
Cost-Cutting of News Operations
Buy-outs from Unrelated Companies (Westinghouse, General Electric)
Mergers with Movie Studios for Added Production Work
1990s and Beyond
One Billion Sets Worldwide
Major Networks in Decline with Competition from Cable and Other Media
New Media Delivery Methods and Equipment (HDTV and World Wide Web)
Videotape
Charles Ginsberg Inventor, 1956
Ampex System
Initially Used for West Coast News
Hand-Held Equipment
Reality-Based Ethical Problems (Amateur Video)
Video Tape Rentals Helped Movies, not Television
Technical Perspective

Cameras
Scanned Images
Transmission Modes
Air
Broadcast (Traditional Method)
Satellite (Powerful Dishes with Short Orbit Satellites--DirecTV)
Earth
Cable (Digital Television with Cable Set-Top Box Converters)
Fiber Optic (Makes Teleputers A Reality)
Receivers
525 Lines (Initial American System)
625 Lines (European System--Better Quality)
HDTV (High Definition Television--Motion Picture Quality)
DTV (Digital Television--Linked with Telephone and Web Services)
Ethical Perspective

Ratings (Almost Anything to Bring in Viewers)
Stereotypes (Any Group Can Find Offense)
Sexual and Violent Themes
But Most Shows Are Not Violent
Cultural Perspective

Television is a Combination of Theatre, Radio, Motion Pictures, and Comic Books
Television Brings Familiar Stories in Serial Form Into Homes
Critical Perspective

All Other Media Suffered, But Not Out
Television as Baby Sitters
Wars and Tragedies are Diminished
Social Problems are Exaggerated
Finding Quality is a Viewer's Responsibility
Future Directions

Television in Movie Theaters
Home Teleputers Linked to the World Wide Web
Possible Visual Materials:

Rodney King video by George Holliday, The Accident, "NYPD Blue" episode, and The Contest, "Seinfeld" episode.

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Chapter 15: Computers

Computer-Generated Images (CGI)

Edward Zajac at
Bell Labs, 1963
2001, 1968 (HAL Computer Diagrams)
Futureworld, 1976 (Peter Fonda's Face)
Star Wars, 1977 (Deathstar Blueprints)
Tron, 1982 (Greatly Publicized for "Cycle Race" Scene, But a Financial Disappointment)
"Sharkey's World" (Music Video from Laurie Anderson)
Labyrinth, 1986 (Brilliant Work from Muppet Master, Jim Henson)
Jurassic Park, 1993 (Seven Minutes of Effects by Stan Winston)
Toy Story, 1995 (First All Computer-Animated Motion Picture, John Lasseter)
Twister, 1996 (Well-Done Tornado Effects)
The Matrix, 1999 (Virtual-Reality Fears Featured)
James Cameron

Born in Canada
Grew up in Brea, California
Worked with Roger Corman
The Abyss, 1989 ("Water Weenie" Effect)
Terminator 2, 1991 (Anything Conceptualized Can Be Realized)
Titanic, 1997
Terminator 3, 2000
Personal Perspective

"Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
---Arthur C. Clarke

A Dominating Technology
Almost Invaluable
Symbolic of a New Age
Access, Privacy, and Many Other Concerns
The Potential is Still Largely Unknown
Historical Perspective

Charles Babbage
Analytical Engine (First Computer, but Never Made a Working Model)
ENIAC and UNIVAC (Room-Sized Computers)
IBM
Herman Hollerith
Punch Card Electronic Calculator Used by Census Bureau, 1890
Started the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR)
Thomas Watson (Worked for CTR--Became President)
Renamed CTR to IBM in 1924
Son, Thomas Watson, Jr. Started Computer Interest
Eighty Percent of All Computers in the World are from IBM
Microsoft Corporation
Altair Computer (First Amateur Computer)
Bill Gates
Harvard Dropout
Richest Person in the World ($60 billion)
IBM DOS (IBM Paid Royalties for System Software)
Paul Allen (Also a Multi-Billionaire, No Longer with Microsoft)
Charter Communications (Cable, Telephone, and Computer Alliances)
Seattle Seahawks Football Team and Portland Trailblazers Basketball Team
Apple Computers
Stephen Wozniak (Technical Genius) and Steven Jobs (Business Sense)
Apple II, 1977 (A Great Success)
Macintosh, 1984 (Started Desktop Revolution)
iMac, 1999 (Reborn Macintosh)
Technical Perspective

Memory and Storage
From Bits to Gigabytes and Beyond
RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read-Only Memory)
From Floppy Disks, Zips, R-CDs to Network Storage
Central Processing Unit
The Heart of the Computer
Clock or Chip Speed (The Faster the Better--500Mhz)
PowerPC (Motorola Product)
IBM PCs (Intel Products)
Pentium III (Intel Product)
Switching Devices
Connectors (Fancy Electrical Cords--SCSI and Bus Interfaces)
Peripherals
Incoming (Keyboard, Mouse, Tablet, Voice, Scanners)
Outgoing (Monitor, Printer)
Interactive (Touch-Screens, Modems, Direct Internet Connections)
Software
Word, QuarkXPress, PhotoShop, FrontPage
Ethical Perspective

Violent Themes
Mortal Kombat
Doom, Quake II (Violence in Littleton, Colorado Partly Blamed)
Sexual Themes
Sex Drives Media (From Printing to Videos)
"Teledildonics" (New Term for Virtual Sex)
Virtual Valerie (Popular Teledildonic Program)
Manipulations
Journalism Concerns with Credibility of Images
Cultural Perspective

Computer Nerd, Fear of Computers, Computer Mystique are Fading
But a Fear of Virtual Reality Seen in Motion Pictures (Blade Runner, 1982, Dark City, 1998, eXistenZ, 1999, The Lawnmower Man, 1992, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, 1996, The Matrix, 1999, Open Your Eyes (Abre los Ojos), 1997, The Thirteenth Floor, 1999)
Y2K (Prepare as if for an Earthquake or Hurricane)
Critical Perspective

Computers Reflect on Culture that Makes and Uses Them
Computers Cannot Solve All Problems While Causing Some
Equal Access to Computer Technology is Vital for Participation by All
Future Directions

Better Encryption for More Commercial Applications
"Invisible" Computers (Wired Without Knowing It)
Teleputers
Possible Visual Materials:

Apple's "1984" Macintosh commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, short portfolio pieces from various companies, excerpts from cgi motion pictures: Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, Tron, The Abyss, Terminator 2, The Lawnmower Man, and others.

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Chapter 16: World Wide Web

Interactive Multimedia

From Alice to Ocean Alone Across the Outback (First Photography Book with a CD-ROM)
Robyn Davidson
Rick Smolan
National Geographic Photographer
Day in the Life of Australia (And Other Countries)
Many Uses for Interactive Multimedia

Government Programs
Business Training and Sales
Consumer Education and Entertainment
Myst and Riven
But Still a 600mg Controlled Program to Be Replaced by the World Wide Web
Personal Perspective

"The World Wide Web is the most important single outcome of the personal computer. It is the Gutenberg press that is democratizing information."
---Bill Atkinson
Bill Gates (Interactive Multimedia is a Transitional Phase)
Fiber Optic Links Offer Unlimited Data and Speed
Historical Perspective

Dr. Vannevar Bush and the "Memex"
ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense--Communicate Despite Nuclear War), 1969
Quickly Used by Educators for E-mail
Videotex (Television/Telephone-Based Interactive Networks)
Ceefax, 1974 (British)
Minitel, 1981 (French)
Viewdata, 1981 (US, Coral Gables, Florida--A Failure)
Bulletin Boards (Computer/Telephone Based Networks)
America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy
Internet, 1983 (ARPANET Renamed with International Use)
CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics, Switzerland)
Tim Berners-Lee Creates the World Wide Web, 1990
Mosaic, 1994 (Marc Andreeson, University of Illinois Student Creates a Practical Web Browser)
Netscape, 1995 (Andreeson Forms His Own Browser Company)
Internet Explorer (IE) (Microsoft Corporation's Browser)
"Browser Wars" Unfair Advantage Claimed by IE Competitors
Cable Regulations
AT&T Breakup, 1984 ("Baby Bells" Established, Telephone Companies Couldn't Provide Programs and Services While Cable Companies Couldn't Provide Telephone Service)
Telecommunications Act, 1996 (Telephone, Cable, and Satellite Companies Can Offer Telephone, Programs, and Services)
Technical Perspective

Fiber Optic Cable
Enormously Expensive to Install
But a Great Potential for High Profits
Number of Possible Channels is 1,000 Greater Than all Radio and TV Channels Combined
Digital Convergence (Media Becoming One--Makes Teleputers Possible)
Ethical Perspective

Free Speech vs. Censorship
Privacy Concerns
Equal Access
Cultural Perspective

Portal/Commercial Sites are Used the Most
What Does that Say About the Medium? (Same as All the Others?)
Critical Perspective

How Do You Use the Web?
Look Up Details in the Starr Report or Take Courses Through an Online University?
Future Directions

Little Difference Between Newspapers, Television, and Portals
Possible Visual Materials:

Demonstrations of Passage to Vietnam and Riven. My bookmarks on the World Wide Web.

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Chapter 17: The More You Know; The More You See

Pictures aren't Simple
Key is Using Words and Pictures in Equally Respectful Ways to Help Educate, Entertain, and Persuade
Light is the Link
Light of Day
Light of Reason
Light of Compassion
Possible Visual Materials:

Slides from all the previous lectures.